1,121 research outputs found
Informal gold mining and mercury pollution in Brazil
No full textThe Amazon region has been responsible for a major share of Brazilian gold production in recent years. The region has witnessed a sizable gold rush comparable only to the California gold rush last century. The gold rush has spawned a powerful informal mining sector and has attracted many people - some who have come to the region in search of wealth and some who were already there but were displaced from other, unsuccessful economicactivities. What these people encounter at the mining sites are dreadful living and working conditions. Gold mining also causes substantial environmental problems, which may persist whether gold deposits do or not. The author discusses the environmental effects of gold mining in the region, focusing on mercury pollution. Mercury, an important input in gold extraction, is being discharged into the atmosphere and the rivers at alarming rates. The environmental costs of the present extraction, is being discharged into the atmosphere and the rivers at alarming rates. The environmental costs of the present extraction technology will be faced primarily by future generations, because of natural chemical processes. Although removing the mercury already discharged from the Amazonian environment may be an enormous task, at least future discharges should be curtailed through the use of appropriate technology, environmental education, and a combination of command and control measures and market-based incentives. The author describes the gold extraction process and the extent of mercury use and contamination. He analyzes key elements of the environmental problem, especially the informal miner and the fish economy. Finally, he suggests a combination of command and control regulations and market-based incentives adapted to the informal gold mining economic environment. He emphasizes the need for an education campaign about the perils of using mercury and the availability of more appropriate, and inexpensive, alternative extraction technologies.Mining&Extractive Industry (Non-Energy),Montreal Protocol,Water and Industry,Coastal and Marine Resources,Primary Metals
Gold Rush Queen The Extraordinary Life of Nellie Cashman
No full textIntro -- Title Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter One: Early Years -- Chapter Two: The Southwest -- Chapter Three: The Cassiar -- Chapter Four: Arizona -- Chapter Five: Baja and Tombstone -- Chapter Six: Restless Feet -- Chapter Seven: The Klondike Trail -- Chapter Eight: Dawson -- Chapter Nine: Alaska -- Endnotes -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index -- About the Author -- Copyright PageDescription based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
Performance of rush-hour lanes and pluslanes: A study to behavioral factors and design factors
No full textRush-hour lanes and pluslanes have been operational in the Netherlands since 1996. They are intended as a measure to increase capacity without the need to add an extra lane to the cross section. Individually, rush-hour lanes and pluslanes have been evaluated. However, not much research, however, compares rush-hour lane or pluslane designs with each other. In this research, long-term data will be used to get detailed information about the performance of different rush-hour lane and pluslane designs. Also, a driving simulator study is performed to gain insight in the underlying behavioral factors and to analyze the performance of changes in rush-hour lane designs. The main question for the research is: What is the performance of rush-hour lanes and pluslanes, what are the behavioral factors and design factors causing differences in performance and what changes can be made to the design of rush-hour lanes to improve the performance? In the ex-post evaluation of performance, data is used for a period of 120 days of 5 highway sections with a rush-hour lane and 5 highway sections with a pluslane. The sections are compared using lane flow distributions that show the occupation of the lanes and intensity-speed relations that show the differences in free-flow speeds driven on the sections. In the first analysis, rush-hour lanes are compared with regular right lanes and pluslanes are compared with regular left lanes. The rush-hour lane section at the A50 between junction Ewijk and junction Valburg is designed in the driving simulator to analyze the behavioral factors that underlie the results from this first comparison. Also, a comparison is made between the occupation of different locations at rush-hour lanes and pluslanes. For this purpose, the start section and the end section are compared with a turbulence-free section. As a final analysis, the design factors that are researched for their influence on performance are: the lane width, the speed limit and the total number of lanes. A lot of variation in these design factors can be found on the rush-hour lane and pluslane sections that have been implemented today. However, some designs have not been implemented yet. The driving simulator provided the perfect opportunity to test new designs of rush-hour lanes. The simulator is used to test the influence of reducing the signaling by 50% and the influence of changing the markings from continuous to broken on the occupation of rush-hour lanes. Regarding the design factors, it can be concluded from this research that a high speed limit of 120 km/h has a negative effect on the occupation of rush-hour lanes and also on the speeds driven at rush-hour lane sections. The car-following behavior of vehicles on a rush-hour lane section with such speed limit is researched in the driving simulator study. It shows that the incentive of using the rush-hour lane at this speed limit is low. Changing the markings from continuous to broken in the driving simulator does not affect the occupation of the rush-hour lane at 120 km/h. Also, reducing the signaling by half does not affect the occupation. Further research needs to show if these design factors have an influence on the occupation of rush-hour lanes at lower speed limits. The models that are implemented in the simulator at the Delft University of Technology are not realistic enough for this kind of research, as the behavior of virtual traffic influences the results too much. Smaller lane widths appear to have a negative effect on the occupation of rush-hour lanes and on the speeds driven at rush-hour lane sections. This could, however, not be concluded from this research alone. At pluslane sections with a combination between a high speed limit (100 km/h) and a small lane width (< 2,80 m) the occupation of the pluslane becomes significantly less. Adding an extra lane to the section (making it 3+1) lowers the intensity shares at low intensity levels for that section for both rush-hour lanes and pluslanes. At higher intensity levels, no significant differences were found. Quantifying the influence of the design factors on the performance of rush-hour lanes and pluslanes is an interesting subject for further research. The performance of managed lanes to be implemented in the future can then be predicted by a model before realization. The differences between start sections and end sections also need to be analyzed in more detail for this purpose. The combination between an ex-post evaluation and a driving simulator study as is used in this research can also be well-suited for that new research.Transport & PlanningCivil Engineering and Geoscience
The impact of item-writing flaws and item complexity on examination item difficulty and discrimination value
No full textCitation: Rush, B. R., Rankin, D. C., & White, B. J. (2016). The impact of item-writing flaws and item complexity on examination item difficulty and discrimination value. BMC Medical Education, 16(1). doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0773-3Background: Failure to adhere to standard item-writing guidelines may render examination questions easier or more difficult than intended. Item complexity describes the cognitive skill level required to obtain a correct answer. Higher cognitive examination items promote critical thinking and are recommended to prepare students for clinical training. This study evaluated faculty-authored examinations to determine the impact of item-writing flaws and item complexity on the difficulty and discrimination value of examination items used to assess third year veterinary students. Methods: The impact of item-writing flaws and item complexity (cognitive level I-V) on examination item difficulty and discrimination value was evaluated on 1925 examination items prepared by clinical faculty for third year veterinary students. Results: The mean (± SE) percent correct (83.3 % ± 17.5) was consistent with target values in professional education, and the mean discrimination index (0.18 ± 0.17) was slightly lower than recommended (0.20). More than one item-writing flaw was identified in 37.3 % of questions. The most common item-writing flaws were awkward stem structure, implausible distractors, longest response is correct, and responses are series of true-false statements. Higher cognitive skills (complexity level III-IV) were required to correctly answer 38.4 % of examination items. As item complexity increased, item difficulty and discrimination values increased. The probability of writing discriminating, difficult examination items decreased when implausible distractors and all of the above were used, and increased if the distractors were comprised of a series of true/false statements. Items with four distractors were not more difficult or discriminating than items with three distractors. Conclusion: Preparation of examination questions targeting higher cognitive levels will increase the likelihood of constructing discriminating items. Use of implausible distractors to complete a five-option multiple choice question does not strengthen the discrimination value. © 2016 The Author(s)
IMMEDIATED TO IMMORTALITY Russian writer and publicist Kavad Bagirovich Rush
No full textK.B. Rush is a writer who expresses the interests of the Russian people, a writer-statesman. K.B. Rush was characterized by a providential sense of history. Turning to the past, K.B. Rush comprehended the present. He had the writer's and the civil courage to talk about the spirituality of history. K.B. Rush blazed into Russian literature. His works "Invitation to battle", "Birth of the Tank Nation", "Christ is Risen, Sailors!", "Officers' Time", "Army and Culture", "Russia's Missile Sword," "Splashed Blue," "Sovereign Eagles," " Road and destiny "," Iron Soldiers "," Sibiryaki against the SS "and others do not leave the reader indifferent, involuntarily join the story, to the heroic pages of the past, they make us see the lessons of history after the author, and comprehend our present through the threads of the past. K.B. Rush rightfully took his place on the literary Olympus</jats:p
In rush to build, property stumbles
No full textLast month, the New York Times published an article written by Bettina Wassener on China’s real estate sector. This article, entitled “ In Rush to Build, Property stumbles ”, points out the issues that China may face as a result of the “construction rush” and the fragility of the real estate sector; but unlike in her usual articles, this time the author has not adopted a dramatic note; she has put this real estate boom into perspective, and has formulated long term hypotheses. According to Wa..
History of Education in Rush County
No full textIn this dissertation the author has attempted to assemble all the bits of information extant in the county. Much of it comes from primary sources and secondary accounts. To this has been added a smaller amount of information gathered by personal interview with reliable individuals; principally teachers, who have been in the teaching service for many years and who were connected with the events described. While no history can be called complete, the information here assembled can be the basis for those who wish to continue a history of the county schools, in years to come. The interest in Rush County history which has been recently renewed by the revival of the Rush County Historical Society is contemporaneous with the writing of this History of Education in Rush County
Management of marketing activities at the trading company (LLC "RUSH")
No full textThe work deals with the theoretical aspects the management of marketing activity of the enterprise, in particular the essence of management of marketing activity is defined, methods of development of the marketing budget are studied.
Author analysis external factors of influence on the drugstore market, financial position and marketing activities of the company "RUSH".
The author introduced practical recommendations for improving the management of marketing activities of LLC "RUSHThe work deals with the theoretical aspects the management of marketing activity of the enterprise, in particular the essence of management of marketing activity is defined, methods of development of the marketing budget are studied.
Author analysis external factors of influence on the drugstore market, financial position and marketing activities of the company "RUSH".
The author introduced practical recommendations for improving the management of marketing activities of LLC "RUS
Theory and Imagination in Comparative Politics: An Interview with Lisa Wedeen
No full textIn an interview with Lisa Wedeen, one of the contemporary comparative political scientists whose work most consistently speaks to both political science and interdisciplinary audiences, the editors ask Wedeen to reflect on the role that comparison has played in her work. Wedeen is the author of three groundbreaking monographs on seemingly single cases – two on Syria and one on Yemen. Yet, in the course of the interview, it becomes apparent how profoundly comparative Wedeen’s work is. She discusses her comparison of “exemplary events” in her field sites as a method through which to draw broad lessons about politics from apparent ephemera. She discusses the comparisons she makes between ethnographic insights and political theory to tack back and forth between empirical and theoretical material with the goal of developing new ways to think about politics. And she discusses the ways in which these comparative practices make her work not just an empirical practice but also a political practice – one that makes the work of a comparative political scientist not just a career but a vocation
A Comparative Analysis of the Equity Outcomes in Three Sugarcane–Ethanol Systems
No full textThis article identifies equity outcomes associated with three biofuel systems in Brazil, Ethiopia, and Guatemala. Acknowledging that winners and losers are socially and politically generated, the article identifies some of the factors behind the distribution of winners and losers along different stages of three sugarcane–ethanol supply chains. Analyzing the outcomes for equity within each case study reveals an uneven distribution that, we argue, is related to the procedure and structure of the given sugarcane–ethanol system, and the recognition of the impacts on different actors within those structures. Increasing equity in sugarcane–ethanol systems will require greater openness in decision-making processes, in order that multiple voices are taken into account in the promotion, production, and consumption of biofuels—particularly those of smaller and less powerful actors
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